sermon notes: Pentecost 11, Luke 12: 32-40

“Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again”
“Looking for his coming again in glory”

In the middle of the prayer of consecration is a little phrase which addresses what might be called our tendency to “spiritual procrastination”. Jesus speaks to his followers about his return: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour .”

I want us to look at Jesus’ sayings this morning in reverse order: beginning with his statement to those who call themselves disciples: be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Jesus has several parables about an absentee landlord or king who disappears for a while and leaves some servants in charge for a while. And in each case the message is basically the same: be ready for his return.

I used to own a t-shirt which said : Look busy, Jesus is coming! I was going to wear it today but fortunately is has gone the way of all flesh. But it strikes at something which besets us all: our tendency to shape up when someone is watching. When Jesus says to be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour, he is reminding his followers that being a Christian is not a part time affair – it is a 24/7 business.

There are at least 2 senses to this statement of Jesus. First is the sense of the return of Christ and the fullness of the kingdom, which has been anticipated from the earliest generation of Christians. St Paul and his companions believed that Jesus would return quite soon. And each time we celebrate communion, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again”. We say it each week – we repeat it in the creeds and in our Eucharistic prayers – until perhaps it becomes so familiar that we forget that it is an actual eventuality. We look for his coming again in glory.


There is another sense in which the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour. Jesus also tells us that we meet him in the least of his brothers and sisters. Perhaps the Son of Man will come to you today, or this week, in an unexpected way, at an “unexpected hour”. This is when we “meet” Christ in those people we encounter. We meet Christ in those who are in need, in those who ask for our care, our time and our charity. Such meetings are not often arranged for our convenience – the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour.

When the son of man comes in an unexpected person – the one who has the need, the one who is least, how do we respond? Do we have eyes to see Christ in others who are in need? Do we give our alms to the poor? How will Christ find us acting when he comes in those unexpected ways?

We also meet Christ in the person who reassures us in our anxiety, who prays for us in our illness or trouble, who cares for us in our need. Sometimes the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour, but an hour at which we need him most.

Sometimes, when we take that phrase in isolation, we fel there is a sense of dread or heaviness: we miss much of what Jesus has to say to us. Look at the examples Jesus gives:

35 "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; [36] be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.

37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. [38] If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

In the first example, Jesus says that the master is returning from a wedding banquet. One would hope that a master returning from a wedding banquet would be in a joyful and celebratory mood. At least, from all the evidence about wedding banquets Jesus attended, there is a good chance He would be celebrating – there would be no shortage of wine. And what will that master do? In an image which is echoed in the washing of the disciples’ feet, Jesus says that the master will do the serving.

Today’s Christian bookstores are filled with “second coming” novels and predictions. But very few of the ones I’ve seen draw their imagery from Scriptures such as these. Yes, we are to be ready, we are to be alert, but the picture Jesus paints is one of grace.

There is a big difference in waiting for the appearance of someone you can’t wait to see, and waiting for the appearance of someone you are dreading to see. We eagerly anticipate meeting someone we love, we dread meeting someone we fear.

If we are still dreading the appearance of Jesus as he describes it at the end of this passage, then we have missed what he said at the very beginning of this passage – “Do not be afraid, little flock, it is the father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

And here Jesus shows us how these different senses of his “coming” are related. If we, like the saints mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews, are truly trusting in God’s promises, then we will be free to “give our alms”. And at the very center is the statement: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And Christ is our treasure:
we look for his coming again in glory
Christ has died Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

And how shall we "dressed for action"?:

"Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" Colossians 3:12